Media links

Webcast Lectures

Most of us believe in supernatural phenomena. Why? Children's intuition explains much of the world, but as adults we may assume there are magical forces. Watch the webcast again as Bruce describes the basis of magical beliefs, from the benign to the bizarre:

http://www.danacentre.org.uk/events/2006/02/16/76

Religion and science have long been thought of as incompatible ways of viewing the world: religion is the domain of faith, while science is based on evidence. Is this how it has to be? Is it true that religion knows all the answers, while science is still trying to find them? Can science tell us everything in this modern world? Or do we need to find our own way of bringing the two together. Watch Bruce's contribution to the Science versus Religion debate recorded last December at the Dana Centre.

http://www.danacentre.org.uk/events/2006/12/14/182

Radio Interviews

Sentimental Objects

Why do some objects have these special qualities? Like wedding rings or art. Here Bruce describes the psychology of sentimental objects to an Australian radio audience. Bruce compares our responses to touching different objects, such as a pen owned by Einstein, or a cardigan owned by a murderer:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2006/1742020.htm

BBC Radio 4 “The Material World”

Listen again as Bruce describes his theory of intuitive reasoning and the origins of magical belief:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/thematerialworld_20060921.shtml

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Here Bruce is interviewed for a Radio show called Skeptical Sunday: When the Stakes are High - discussing Vampires, Freaks and Superstition.

http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=178892

Chinese Collectables

Here is Bruce speaking to Sarah Passmore of Hong Kong's Radio 3. It begins 24 minutes into the show.

http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/radio3/naked_lunch/20060928.html

Web Papers

The brains of even young babies not only organize sensory information but supply what is missing, determine cause and effect, and use the information to generate theories about how the world operates. Such natural intuitive reasoning persists when we become adults, reasons Bruce and may underlie the tendency of even the most rational of us to believe in supernatural phenomena:

http://www.dana.org/pdf/cerebrum/art_0607hood.pdf (128KB PDF)

Science Festivals

The following link will take you to the details of Bruce's recent presentation on 'Science and Supernaturalism' at the Festival of Science in Norwich organised by the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Bruce at the BA Science Festival

Note: some of the documents on this page are in PDF format. In order to view a PDF you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader